Travels in the 2nd half

Kiku Butterfly  The chrysanthemum is the flower of fall. And what a flower it is. It comes in so many colors and so many varieties. And no part of the world has become as synonymous with growing chrysanthemums as Japan. In Japanese, these beautiful flowers are called kiku and the Japanese have made an art out of training them, much the same way that they train trees in bonsai . This past October, the New York Botanical Gardens staged an excellent show – Kiku: The Art of the Japanese Garden .   Featuring thousands of chrysanthemums, this exhibit showed all of the skills used to showcase the colors and shapes of these mums.  I have lived in NYC all of my life, but it is only in the past couple of years that I have really appreciated the Botanical Gardens. I have grown to appreciate the NYBG, not for the gardens, which I enjoy, but for the shows. Every year they tie together art and botany in a way that is both beautiful a...

Governor's Circle Danville is a small town in the center of Kentucky with a large history. It played an important role in the development of Kentucky as a state and, along with nearby Perryville, an important role in the keeping Kentucky in the Union during the Civil War. Danville Kentucky Danville is an old town by Kentucky standards. It dates back to the 1770’s making it one of the first European settled towns in the territory. It was first settled in 1774 by John Crow, and became an actual town when Walker Daniel bought 76 acres and designed the town grid in 1783. At that time this area was part of the state of Virginia. Danville hosted several conventions leading up to Kentucky gaining independence and becoming a state. In 1788 Virginia gave its permission for Kentucky to become independent and in 1792 Kentucky became the fifteenth state, and Danville was its first capital. Boyle County Courthouse 1940 -  See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedi...

The Big Four Bridge Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE machinery? I mean it I love machinery, the bigger the better. Trucks, trains, building equipment, and all of the things that go with them. On a recent trip to Louisville I found out there is an old railroad bridge that had been turned into a pedestrian walkway across the Ohio River between Kentucky and Indiana. Well, I just had to visit The Big Four Railroad Bridge, and it was grand.   The Big Four Railroad Bridge was originally built in 1895 between Louisville, KY and Jeffersonville IN. It is a truss bridge that spans over 2500 ft. (770m). It is named after the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway , which was nicknamed The Big Four Railway. The Big Four Bridge was in use until 1969 when the Penn Central Railroad rerouted all of its traffic over the nearby Fourteenth Street Bridge. Shortly after, both the Kentucky and Indiana approaches were taken down and sold for scrap, leaving a bridge that ...